Anyone thinking of planning a vacation in Alberta who types the words “traveling Alberta” into a web search might be inclined to quickly change their minds. At least that’s what the folks behind the website

— one of the first hits that comes up on Google and Bing —are hoping. The website is one of those efforts that apparently makes oilsands haters bust a gut, presenting alleged environmental adulterations as tourist attractions: an “oilsands vacation” where you’re woken up to the sound of bird deterrence cannons, kids play on “black sand beaches” while “mom lets go of her everyday stress with a gritty oil” facial and dad fishes for slimy fish in a tailings pond. The photos are doctored and things are exaggerated, of course, but if Albertans want to spook would-be tourists away as a pressure tactic against their own government, then that’s certainly their right.

Except, this isn’t a website by Albertans. It isn’t even something that comes from Canadians. It’s an ad that’s been bought and paid for by American foundations channeling money through environmentalist groups here. They apparently aren’t proud enough of their work to put their own name on it; they pay the bills and let the environmental groups run what essentially amounts to a boycott campaign against a Canadian province.

The website says only that it’s presented by Greenpeace, but that’s incomplete. As discovered by crack Vancouver researcher

in depth in the National Post in November) to produce a website “to educate American tourists and tour operators about the damage being done to Alberta by the unsustainable extraction of tar sands, and by doing so, to increase pressure on Alberta policymakers to shift development plans onto a more sustainable track.” Rockefeller also helps fund the “DeSmog Blog,” a prominent climate-change PR effort, which also plugs the

The website makes no mention of its reliance on an American based foundation to stigmatize Alberta’s significant tourist industry as a way of influencing Alberta policymakers all the way from New York City, nor mention of the role of the Tides Canada charity which relies heavily on U.S. donations. It’s worth noting that Greenpeace, which ended up putting its name to travelingalberta.com, doesn’t enjoy charitable status here (it’s technically a corporation), but Tides Canada, which paid for the site does. Ms. Krause points out that the people behind Tides have made a point of demanding “transparency and openness” from the forestry, mining, energy and other industries they target with their campaigns; she wonders if they’re willing to hold the activities of Tides and its funders to the same standard. Indeed, just last month, Tides Canada vice-president Sarah Goodman told a reporter from

Business in Vancouver

that her organization has “taken no stand for or against the oilsands.” The website it paid for, however, is pretty clear: “Tell Alberta Tourism operators, Alberta’s Premier, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper that it’s time to put the brakes to the Alberta tar sands.”

Canadians spend a lot of time debating whether we should or shouldn’t “put the brakes” on the oilsands, or at least adjust our policy towards them. It’s an important discussion and one that every Canadian has a right to participate in. What’s slowly coming to light — thanks to investigators like Ms. Krause — is that Canadian politicians are increasingly being targeted by campaigns aimed at influencing our industrial policies but paid for with U.S. dollars. This is hardly the only example. As Ms. Krause detailed in

, Tides Canada’s “Organizing for Change” project has apparently been working to swing the outcome of the leadership races for both the B.C. Liberals and B.C. NDP — again, with the help of money sent northward by American funds. “There is evidence of a foreign-funded campaign to meddle in our political process for reasons and motives that, while open to speculation, may not be in Canada’s interests,” Ms. Krause wrote.

Some anti-oilsands activists insist that this is all fair play, since U.S.-based energy companies with an interest in Alberta also lobby our politicians. But firms like Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips don’t conceal the fact that they are members of the lobby group

ampaign that also called on foreign visitors to boycott Alberta tourism — doesn’t come up in the lobbyist registry. It seems that it just quietly places its American money in places it hopes will harm Alberta’s economic interests enough to pressure our politicians to act according to its own, parochial wishes. That’s a strange concept of fair play.

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